A Contemporary Tale of Faith and No Regret

This story, from Shen Yun’s 2011 No Regret, is based not on the tale of a particular mother and son.
Rather, it represents the true stories, both tragic and heroic, of millions of
families in China today.

***

In twenty-first century China, in a countryside village, a
mother and her teenage son are lovingly enjoying each other’s company. The
mother has just finished sewing him a shirt and asks him to try it on. It fits
perfectly. It’s a beautiful sunny day, and the two sit down together to read a
book.

This is no ordinary book—it is Zhuan
Falun, the book of spiritual teachings of the meditation discipline Falun
Dafa. The shirt the mother sewed for her son bears three Chinese words on the
front: “Truth-Compassion-Tolerance,” the principles of Falun Dafa.

Since 1999, tens of millions of Falun Dafa practitioners in
China have been persecuted for their faith at the hands of the atheist Chinese
Communist Party. This small family is no exception.

Communist Party goons suddenly storm into the village, tear
the book from the son’s hands and start beating him. The son grabs the book
back and tries to escape, but the thugs are relentless. They close in on him
and shower him with blows until he falls, dead in his mother’s arms.

Her heart torn apart, in this moment of her darkest grief
and despair, she looks up to the sky and a heavenly scene suddenly appears.
Divine beings, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, manifest right before her eyes. They
bring the son back to life and give him back his book. He, in turn, gives it to
his mother, before joining the deities, flying away with them up to the
heavens.

Interact with Shen Yun:

Shen Yun Performing Arts is a premier classical Chinese dance and music company established in New York. It performs
classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, with orchestral accompaniment and solo performers.
For 5,000 years, divine culture flourished in the land of China. Through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is reviving
this glorious culture. Shen Yun, or 神韻, can be translated as: “The beauty of divine beings dancing.”